1. The 3rd meeting of the Republic of Korea-Republic of Kazakhstan joint cultural committee will take place at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on November 15, with Director-General for Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Hong Seok-in of the ROK Foreign Ministry and Almat Suyunov, head of the Department of Education, Research and International Relations at the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Kazakhstan, leading their respective delegations.

※ Participating organizations from the ROK side: the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (National Archives of Korea), the Cultural Heritage Administration, and the Korea Foundation

2. In the meeting, the two sides will review the progress in cultural exchanges between the two countries, and discuss ways to increase cooperation in a range of areas, including culture and arts, cultural heritage conservation, records, sports, tourism, the mass media, education, publication and printing, and youth exchanges. They will also sign the Agreed Minutes of the third ROK-Kazakhstan joint cultural committee meeting.

3. In particular, as the Kazakh side asked for cooperation in records management, the two sides will begin consultations to conclude a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on exchanges regarding records, and joint publication and exhibitions.

o Cooperation with Kazakhstan in records management is expected to serve as an opportunity to share the ROK’s knowhow in digital administration with the Central Asian region, and to contribute to the ROK’s research in historical records, including those regarding forced migration of ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states.

4. Since concluding a cultural agreement in 1992, the ROK and Kazakhstan have continued efforts to increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, including the establishment of the only Korean culture center in Central Asia (2010), the conclusion of an agreement on visa-free travel (2014), and joint excavation of cultural properties and joint research in them. The 3rd joint cultural committee meeting is expected to become a good opportunity to review such efforts of the two countries, and to take a leap towards a new level of cultural cooperation.

* unofficial translation